The brief guide designed to delineate the objectives and decision-making steps necessary to organize and execute a successful search of the educational literature, places emphasis on the search a doctoral candidate must conduct to identify a topic for a doctoral dissertation. (Author/NH)

Discussion of search methods, reviews, and sources for urban poetry for children. Includes a list of books of city poetry. (LS)

Describes a course which provides students with hands-on experience at a computer terminal, and includes segments on how to conduct a reference interview using counseling techniques, how to evaluate and select information retrieval services and equipment, and discusses the impact of computerized information retrieval on libraries. (JAB)

The computer-based reference process includes the user pre-search form, appointments, search strategy negotiation, on-line sampling and on-line search session. The role of the search analyst, his personality and communication skills are discussed in relation to the success or failure of a computer search. (JAB)

Identifies two fundamental properties of questions, i.e., they have a structure that consists of a subject and a query, and they presuppose a limited number of basic categories of human thought. A system for classifying questions by conceptual presupposition is proposed to assist information professionals in handling user questions effectively.…

Without spending any more time or energy compiling the bibliography, by simply making the specifications of our search available to the user, we would have greatly improved the instrument's utility and effectiveness for the user's search. (Author)

Provides an annotated bibliography intended for searchers, educators, library administrators, and other reference department staff who must plan or provide for the training and continuing education of online searchers. (Author)

The inconsistency in the manner in which the various indexes index material on the subject military-industrial complex" is the research problem discussed. (MF)

This study examined the importance of negative searching, or searching to discover topics not previously explored in writing, and its oversight in the library literature. A survey of university faculty revealed a tendency to view negative searching as necessary to scholarly endeavors, but an online literature search showed little discussion of…

Four operational systems for searching and retrieving information from the ERIC data base are described. (NH)

Examines range of coverage and principles of inclusion of dissertations in PsycINFO by comparing searches done on PsycINFO and Dissertation Abstracts Online. Searchers are advised to be skeptical about the accuracy and completeness of vendor documentation and the practical journal literature. Search strategies used are appended. (eight references)…

Methods of obtaining information which were developed by the Prussian General Staff (military) could be adapted to reference interviews. (JAB)

Reviews information sources designed to assist the genealogical researcher with the arrival of his/her ancestors: "A Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists 1538-1825"; "Passenger and Immigration Lists Index"; "Philadelphia Naturalization Records." Examples provided include name entry, source citation, annotation, and…

Summarizes methods of searching currently available for OCLC, provides list of questions that can be answered with terminal (monographic series, mock subject searching, bibliography, government documents, serials, microforms, music, birth/death dates, corporate bodies, name authority, variant editions, artistic transpositions), and demonstrates…

These planning and evaluative guidelines for online trainers utilize a sliding scale--from minimal to suggested to optimal--for five types of training sessions: (1) Search Service--Beginning; (2) Search Service--Advanced; (3) Search Service--Subject; (4) Database Producer; and (5) Independent Introductory Workshop. (RAA)